Children and Adolescent Literature

Learner’s Material

BULACAN AGRICULTURAL STATE COLLEGE

Pinaod, San Ildefonso, Bulacan

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 Module 6
Traditional Folk Literature
“My name is nobody.”

― Homer, The Odyssey

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 DISCLAIMER:

This module is not created for wide circulation publication.

The intention of the module is to provide guide for BASC Students only.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1. An Introduction to Literature, Children, and Literacy

History of Children’s Literature……………………………..… 5

Literary Elements ……………………………….…………...... 9
Activity……………………………………………………..………11
Rubrics……………………………………………………............11

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Objectives:

LO 1. Recognize and value the forms of diversity that exist in society and its importance
in children’s literature.
LO 2. Appreciate the value of traditional literature including historical, cultural,
dystopian and modern fantasy.

Traditional Folk Literature

Folk literature includes all the myths, legends, epics, fables, and folktales passed
down by word of mouth through the generations. The
authors of traditional literature are usually unknown or
unidentifiable.
These stories have endured because they are
entertaining, they embody the culture’s belief system, and
they contain fundamental human truths by which people
have lived for centuries. Knowing the characters and
situations of folk literature is part of being culturally
literate.
Folk literature, regardless of its place of origin, seems clearly to have arisen to meet
a variety of human needs:

 The need to explain the mysteries of the natural world

 The need to articulate our fears and dreams
 The need to impose order on the apparent random, even chaotic, nature of life
 The need to entertain ourselves and each other

Their brevity, immediate action, easily understandable characters, recurring features,

fantastic elements, and happy endings particularly appeal to children between the ages of
3 and 8.
Folk literature can help children begin to develop a sense of morality. It helps children
to sort out good and evil in the world and to identify with the good.

Recommended folktale websites:

SurLaLune Fairy Tales Site

Folklore and Mythology: Electronic Texts (by D. L. Ashliman, University of Pittsburgh)
Fairy Tales & Folktales (from Web English Teacher)
Folk Tales from Around the World (from TOPICS Online Magazine)
Fairytales Around the Globe (from Online University)
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Characteristics of Folk Literature

Setting Character Plot Theme Style

Folktales employ certain characteristics or conventions common to virtually all tales.

The most familiar involve the setting, character, plot, theme and conflict, and style.

A. Setting
 Most folktale settings remove the tale from the
real world, taking us to a time and place where
animals talk, witches and wizards roam, and
magic spells are commonplace.
 The settings are usually unimportant and
described and referred to in vague terms (e.g.,
“Long ago in a land far away…” and “Once
upon a time in a dark forest…”).
 Some settings reflect the typical landscape of the tale’s culture, for example,
medieval Europe with its forests, castles, and cottages, Africa with its jungles, India
and China with its splendid palaces.

B. Character

 The characters in folk literature are usually flat,

simple, and straightforward. They are typically either
completely good or entirely evil and easy to identify.
They do not internalize their feelings and seldom are
plagued by mental torment.
 Motivation in folktale characters tends to be singular;
that is, the characters are motivated by one overriding
desire such as greed, love, fear, hatred, and jealousy.
 The characters are usually stereotypical, for example, wicked stepmothers, weak-
willed fathers, jealous siblings, faithful friends. Physical appearance often readily
defines the characters, but disguises are common.
 The hero or heroine is often isolated and is usually cast out into the open world or
is apparently without any human friends. Evil, on the other hand, seems
overwhelming. Therefore, the hero/heroine must be aided by supernatural forces,
such as a magical object or an enchanted creature, to fight against evil forces.

C. Plot

 Plots are generally shorter and simpler than in other genres

of literature.
 The action tends to be formulaic. A journey is common
(and is usually symbolic of the protagonist’s journey to
self-discovery). Repetitious patterns are found, suggesting
the ritual nature of folktales and perhaps to aid the

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 storyteller in memorization; for example, events often occur in sets of three (e.g.,
three pigs, three bears, three sisters, three wishes),
 The action is concentrated, no lengthy explanations and descriptions. Conflicts are
quickly established and events move swiftly to their conclusion. The action never
slows down. Endings are almost always happy (“They lived happily ever after”).

D. Theme and Conflict

 Themes in folk literature are usually quite

simple, but serious and powerful. Folktale
themes espouse the virtues of compassion,
generosity, and humility over the vices of greed,
selfishness, and excessive pride.
 Common folktale themes include the following:
 The struggle to achieve autonomy or to break
away from parents (“Beauty and the Beast”)
 The undertaking of a rite of passage
(“Rapunzel”)
 The discovery of loneliness on a journey to maturity (“Hansel and Gretel”)
 The anxiety over the failure to meet a parent’s expectations (“Jack and the
Beanstalk”)
 The anxiety over one’s displacement by another – the “new arrival”
(“Cinderella”)
 These themes are at the very heart of growing up. Also, they are similar to the
themes of Greek tragedy: Wisdom comes through suffering. For every benefit there
is a condition; nothing in life comes without strings attached, responsibilities to be
met, and bargains to be kept.

E. Style

 The language is typically economical,

with a minimal amount of description and
a heavy reliance on formulaic patterns,
e.g., conventional openings and closings.
 Repetitious phrases are common; they
supply a rhythmical quality desirable in
oral tales and perhaps aided in
memorization the stories.
 Dialogue is frequently used; it captures the
nature of the character speaking.
 Folktales often use a technique – stylized intensification, which occurs when, with
each repetition, an element is further exaggerated or intensified. This has the effect
of increasing the drama.
 Folktale motifs (i.e., recurring thematic elements) are quite pre valent; they may
have served as mnemonic devices when the tales were still passed on orally.
Examples of common motifs include journeys through dark forests, enchanted

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 transformations, magical cures or other spells, encounters with helpful animals or
mysterious creatures, foolish bargains, impossible tasks, clever deceptions, and so
on.
 Some folktales have powerful visual images that we can readily identify, such as a
glass slipper, a bean stalk, a spinning wheel, a poisoned apple, a red riding hood, a
magic lamp, and a blue bird. These stark visual elements give the tales their
enduring strength.
 Many folktale motifs (i.e., recurring thematic elements) are examples of magic:
helpful animals, enchanted transformations, granted wishes, etc. The magic, when
it appears, is always greeted by the characters with matter-of-factness. Characters
acknowledge magic as a normal part of life without surprise or disbelief. This
stylistic feature distances the folktale from reality, and it provides an important
distinction between folk literature and literary/modern fantasy.
 Folktales often lift their heroes and heroines to higher and more refined levels
where they remain beautiful, noble, and pure through the process of sublimation.

Types of Folk Literature

Myths Epics Legends Fables Folktales Literary Fairytales

1. Myths
Myths are stories that recount and explain the
origins of the world and the phenomena of nature.
The characters are mainly gods and goddesses, with
occasional mention of humans, and the setting is
high above earth in the home of the gods.
Myths often mirror human nature and the
essence of our sometimes primitive emotions,
instincts, and desires. Some folklorists believe that
myths are the foundation of all other ancient stories.
The best-known mythologies are of Greek,
Roman, and Norse origin.

Recommended online myths websites:

World Mythology (beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels)

The Myths from different cultures (animation)
Classical Myth: The Ancient Sources, Mythweb – Greek Mythology (for kids)
Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology
Encyclopedia Mythica
World Myths and Legends in Art

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2. Epics
Epics are long stories of human adventure and heroism recounted
in many episodes, often in verse. Epics are grounded in mythology,
and their characters can be both human and divine. However, the hero
is always human (e.g., “Iliad”, “Odyssey”, “Beowulf” and “The Song
of Roland”). The setting is earthly but not always realistic.
Because of their length and complexity, epics are more suitable
for students in high school or college.
The most famous ones are Padraic Colum’s The Children’s
Homer, The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived before
Achilles, and The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy.

Recommended online epic websites:

Bulfinch’s Mythology (by Thomas Bulfinch)

The Age of Fables or Stories of Gods and Heroes
The Golden Fleece, The Adventures of Ulysses
The Adventures of Aeneas.

3. Legends and Tall Tales

Legends are stories based on either real or supposedly real
individuals or their marvelous deeds. Legendary characters such as
King Arthur and Robin Hood are a tantalizing mix of realism and
fantasy.
Tall tales are highly exaggerated accounts of the exploits of
persons, both real and imagined, so they may be considered a
subcategory of legends, though with much more recent origin. Tall
tales usually defy logic and are usually without moral lessons.
Tall tales are usually valued for their humor and exaggeration,
whereas legends are more austere in tone.

Recommended online legends and tall tales websites:

Legends
Legends and Sages
American Folklore – Legends
American Folklore – Tall Tales
King Arthur and his Knights
King Arthur for kids (animation)
Animated Tall Tales

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4. Fables
Fables are simple stories that incorporate characters
(typically animals) whose actions teach a moral lesson or
universal truth. Often the moral is stated at the end of the story.
Fables have appealed to both adults and children, yet many
fables demand abstract thinking and their points are often lost on
children.
The use of animals as symbols for human behavior often has
made fables safe, yet effective, political tools.
The first known collection of fables in the Western world is
“Aesop’s fables”.
Famous modern fables:
 Jams Thurber’s “Fables for Our Time” (1939)
 Arnold Lobel’s “Fables” (1980)

Recommended online fable websites:

The Online Collection of Aesop’s Fables

Aesop’s Fables at byGosh.com
Aesop’s Fables on the Golden Scales
Aesop’s Fables: Traditional and Modern (illustrated and retold by art students at the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst).

5. Folktales (or Fairy Tales)

Folktales are stories that grew out of the lives and
imaginations of the people, or folk. They have always
been children’s favorite type of folk literature.
Their popularity springs from their imaginative
characters, their supernatural elements, and their focus on
action, their simple sense of justice, their happy endings,
and the fundamental wisdom they contain.
Many people use the terms folktale and fairy tale
interchangeable, though few of these tales actually
contain fairies. “Fairy tales are unreal but they are not
untrue; they reflect essential developments and
conditions of man’s existence” (cited in Lüthi, 1976,
Once Upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales, p. 70)

Important folktale collections:

 Charles Perrault’s “Tales of Mother Goose” (1697) collected and published in
France: first written version of folktales.

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  Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm’s “Nursery and Household Tales” (1812)
collected and published in Germany: helped to popularize folktales (also
see Grimm’s tales at nationalgeographic.com and Animated Grimm Tales)
 Joseph Jacobs’s “English Fairy Tales” (1894) collected and published in
England: further helped to popularize folk literature
 Andrew Lang’s “Fairy Books” (1889-1910) collected and published a series
of fairy books containing folktales from around the world

Below are the most prevalent kinds of folktales (note that some folktales have
characteristics of two or more folktale categories):
1. Animal tales are perhaps the oldest of all folktales. They are part myth, part
fable, and part fairy tales. They play significant roles in early stories and legends.
Talking animals appear in many European folktales. For example, “The Three
Little Pigs” and “Little Red Riding Hood”.
2. Wonder tales (also known as fairy tales) are the best known of the traditional
folktales. They are stories of supernatural wonders typically depicting
the conflict between good and evil. Most conclude with the triumph of virtue
and a happy marriage. In fairy tales, the supernatural wonder is derived from
either a magical person (a fairy godmother, a wicked witch), a magical object (a
wondrous beanstalk, a talking mirror, and a magic lamp) or an enchantment (a
miraculous sleep that lasts until love’s first kiss). For example, “Cinderella”,
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Jack and the
Beanstalk”
3. Cumulative tales are the ones in which successive additions are made to a
repetitive plot line. They are generally very simple in plot and brief, for with each
addition, the entire sequence is repeated. For example, “The Gingerbread Man”
and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”.
4. Pourquoi tales (“pourquoi” means “why” in French) seeks to explain natural
phenomena. They provide primitive explanations for the many “why” questions
early humans asked. They are found throughout the world and especially popular
in African and Native American folklore. There is a strong connection between
pourquoi tales and myths; however, the setting in pourquoi tales is earthly and
deities play no role in pourquoi tales as they do in myths. For example, “Why the
Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky” (from Southern Nigeria), “Where Stories
Come From” (from Zulu), and “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” (1976).
5. Noodlehead tales are light-hearted tales about silly people doing silly things.
These tales are popular because of their pure nonsense and jocularity, and
sometimes we enjoy the triumph of the good-hearted simpleton over the craftier
evil characters of the story. For example, “Hans in Luck” by the Grimm brothers
and “The Three Wishes” by Joseph Jacobs.

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 Recommended online folktales websites:

SurLaLune Fairy Tales Site

Folk and Fairy Tales from Around the World
World Tales
Children's Literature Navigator – Folklore

6. Literary Fairy Tales

Literary fairy tales are original tales written by specific modern authors that have all
the flavor of a traditional folktale. These tales fall
somewhere between traditional literature and
fantasy. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish
between the literary fairy tale and the oral folktale
unless we know the origin.
Literary fairy tales exhibit many of the same
features as traditional folktales: conventional
settings in a distant “generic” kingdom,
predominantly flat and stereotyped characters, an
accepted magical element, and typically the
requisite happy ending.
A modern variation of the literary fairy tale is a spoof or satire (i.e., a parody of a
folktale). Satire results when writers feel a literary form has been exhausted and that it
offers no other serious possibilities; therefore, they begin to poke fun at it and then give
the form a new life.

For example:
 James Thurber’s “Many Moons” (1943)
 Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes” (1982)
 Eugene Trivizas’s “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig” (illustrated by
Helen Oxenbury) (1997)
 Jon Scieszka’s “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” (1996)
 Colin & Jacqui Hawkins's "Fairytale News"(2004)

*What are your insights with these?

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References:

Anderson, J. (January 9, 2019). “Bringing Controversial Books into the Classroom.”

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/19/01/bringing-controversial-books-classroom.

Bosman, J. (18 Feb. 2007). "With One Word, Children’s Book Sets Off Uproar." The New
York Times. 25 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/books/18newb.html>.

Harris, R.H. It's so amazing! a book about eggs, sperm, birth, babies, and families.
Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick P. (1999).

Johnson, D. The joy of children’slLiterature (Instructor’s Copy). USA: Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt Publishing Company (2009).

Lynch-Brown, C., et al. Essentials of children’s literature (Instructor’s Copy). Boston:

Pearson Education, Inc. (2011).

Norton, D.E. Through the eyes of a child an introduction to children's literature. 7th ed.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. (2007).

Tunnell, M.O., and J.S. Jacobs. Children's literature, briefly. Fourth ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. (2008).

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